Bulgaria, situated in the eastern Balkans, has spectacular mountains and a Black Sea coastline, as well as a history going back to the 7th century.
A predominantly Slavic-speaking, Orthodox country long influenced by Byzantine culture, Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years before gaining its independence in the 19th century.
After World War II the country was a satellite of the Soviet Union until 1991, and is now a member country of the EU and NATO.
Its transition to democracy and a market economy after the collapse of communism has not been easy and the country is striving to boost low standards of living.
Throughout the early 1990s Bulgaria was wracked by political instability and strikes. The former communists were a powerful influence. Although the end of the decade was more stable, there was little tangible progress with economic reform.
Under Bulgaria's former king, Simeon II, who was prime minister between 2001 and 2005, the country pressed ahead with market reforms designed to meet EU economic targets.
It achieved growth, saw unemployment fall from highs of nearly 20% and inflation come under control but incomes and living standards remained low.
Bulgaria was not among the countries invited to join the EU in 2004. However, it signed an EU accession treaty in April 2005 and joined in January 2007.
EU officials set tough entry requirements, reflecting their concerns about corruption and organised crime. After a series of reports found that the Bulgarian government had failed to tackle these issues effectively, the EU announced in July 2008 that it was suspending aid worth hundreds of millions of euros. Two months later it announced it was permanently scrapping half of the funding.
Another area of friction has been the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, which supplies over a third of Bulgaria's electricity.
Amid concerns over the safety of communist-era nuclear facilities, four of Kozloduy's six reactors were shut down as a price for Bulgaria's EU membership, two of them closing just minutes before the country joined the EU.
In a bid to offset the loss of production at Kozloduy and restore its position as a major power exporter in the Balkans, Bulgaria has revived plans for a second nuclear power plant.
President: Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Parvanov won a second five-year term with a landslide victory in October 2006. He beat nationalist Volen Siderov, who opposed EU entry.
Bulgaria's presidents are elected to five-year terms. Although the president is head of the armed forces, the role is largely ceremonial. Legislative power is exercised by the prime minister and parliament.
Prime minister: Sergei Stanishev
Bulgaria's main parties agreed in August 2005 to form a coalition, ending weeks of post-election deadlock.
The Socialist Party led by Sergei Stanishev entered into government with the liberal Movement for Simeon II (NMS). The mostly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) is also part of the coalition.
The Socialists won the biggest number of seats in parliament in the June poll, but not enough to form a government on their own. The NMS, which led the former coalition, came second and the MRF third.
In the political manoeuvring that followed, the main parties blocked each other's attempts to form a government. As negotiations dragged on, the EU urged a rapid resolution of the situation in order to progress reforms required for accession in 2007.
Mr Stanishev has promised to intensify the campaign against corruption and organised crime although his government has faced criticism for failing to make sufficient progress.
His predecessor, former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had been the first ex-monarch in post-communist eastern Europe to return to power.
Global media giants have a stake in Bulgaria's lively broadcasting market. Balkan News Corporation - part of News Corporation - operates bTV, the country's first national commercial channel. A Scandinavian group has bought national station Nova TV. A third national network, TV2, is Bulgarian-owned.
There are several private regional TV channels and many private radio stations. Freedom of the press is guaranteed under the constitution.
The press
Television
Radio
News agency/internet
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